130 Years Ago
December 22, 1893
Our friend Iddo Joder was a caller at this office one day this week. While speaking of affairs about his farm he informed us that he has over four hundred bushels of wheat which he will feed to hogs. He thinks this more profitable than selling at the present price. He has about a dozen head of hogs at present.
125 Years Ago
December 23, 1898
The Supreme court made an order yesterday morning granting the injunction asked for to restrain Alliance from moving the county records to this place on January first, until such time as the court shall hand down its opinion on the merits of the case before it. This will likely be done at an early date. A bond in the sum of $2,500 was fixed to guarantee the safety of the records. Alliance’s motion for the dismissal of the case was overruled.
120 Years Ago
December 18, 1903
The jury in the case of State of Nebraska against S. R. McDonald agreed upon a verdict last night at two o’clock, having retired to deliberate at 9:30 in the evening, and their statement of belief in the innocence of the defendant was heard by the court at 7:30 o’clock this morning. But few were present at the time. McDonald’s faith never wavered in the belief that he would be acquitted, and he immediately grasped the hand of each of the jurymen to thank him personally. The defendant comes of an old and honored family, and this is the first stain thereon, so that the array of counsel in Mr. McDonald’s behalf was very strong.
115 Years Ago
December 22, 1908
Last evening at about five o’clock, fire destroyed the seven-room frame house located on the T. M. Lawler place, about three and one-half miles north and east of this city. The property had been rented to three of Mr. Lawler’s oldest children for the past several months, and they were at the house at the time of the fire. The house was a seven-room frame building, valued at $1,500 and was insured for about $400. The fire is supposed to have started from a defective flue, but before it was noticed the entire roof was ablaze.
110 Years Ago
December 19, 1913
The Alliance high school basketball boys have arranged a basket ball trip during the holidays that will probably be the longest and hardest schedule ever undertaken by a team in Western Nebraska. The boys will leave in charge of Coach Clements about Sunday, Dec. 28 and will play Broken Bow, Monday, December 29; Hastings, Tuesday December 30, Crete Wednesday December 31; Temple high school of Lincoln, New Years Day; Newman Grove, Friday, Jan. 2; Ravenna, Saturday, January 3.
105 Years Ago
December 20, 1918
Charles E. Martin, an Alliance young man and former bookkeeper at the Dierks Lumber company, died of wounds in France. His wife, formerly Miss Hazel Rockey, received the brief announcement this week. Mr. Martin was first reported severely wounded in the severe fighting near the Argonne forest, Nov. 3rd when the American forces were cutting their way through to Sedan. He died the following day, Nov. 4th, and it is a strange coincidence that William Herman was killed the same day. Mr. Martin left Alliance with the Box Butte county contingent on the 29th of April and after three weeks stay at Camp Funston, he left immediately for France with the 355th infantry of the 89th division.
100 Years Ago
December 21, 1923
While laboring under the delusion that he was in danger from an attack by imaginary enemies, Sam Evans, a one-legged man enroute from Alliance to Corbin, Ky., crawled through the window of the men’s toilet in smoking car on No. 42 at 4:25 Thursday morning. The accident happened when the train was a mile east of Hecla and Evans was taken there for medical treatment. Examination revealed that he had no bones broken, but received severe bruises about the head and face. The train was running about 40 miles an hour. Evans told the sheriff a confidential story about being in danger from a group of men belonging to one of the secret societies of Wyoming.
95 Years Ago
December 21, 1928
A little matter of 10,000 wire connections have been made by employees of the city light department to make possible the attractive lighting display of vari-colored globes gleaming from under the evergreens on the local Christmas trees. Think of it! Ten thousand connections and most of us know what a dickens of a job it is to repair a light or fix a broken lamp socket. And yet when it is all done it places Alliance in the front of the picture of the “Spirit of Christmas.”
90 Years Ago
December 19, 1933
Additional Civil Works funds totaling $1,650 were allotted for Box Butte county projects on an application submitted to the state Civil Works board for its meeting in Lincoln Saturday. Following the Saturday letting, the state emergency board sent word to Harry L. Hopkins at Washington that all of the state’s 32,750 jobs had been allotted. Work proposed under the approval granted Saturday is largely for skilled labor for the repair of school buildings at Hemingford and in Alliance and for some work on either the city hall or the city library, or both. Some work is also to be done on the courthouse.
85 Years Ago
December 20, 1938
It was to be “open house” at the new St. Joseph’s hospital nurses’ home today. In addition to inspecting the home, visitors were to be entertained with a musical program presented under the direction of F. Vallette Hill and Miss Constance Cruickshank of the Alliance high school. The hospital’s 45 nurses and the sisters in charge already have moved into the two-story building, recently completed at a cost of approximately $67,000.
80 Years Ago
December 21, 1943
Dr. Leo M. Christensen, research executive of the state Chemugy project, told a group of Box Butte county farmers here Friday that for the next five years there would be a greater and constantly increasing demand for two war essentials—oil and alcohol which must come from agricultural products. “Since the war began,” he said the demand for alcohol has increased sharply as it is used in smokeless powder, medicines, dye, aviation, gasoline and other war vital items.
75 Years Ago
December 21, 1948
A cheerful stream of Christmas greeting cards and gay packages is pouring into the Alliance postoffice and is expected to reach flood proportions this week. Postoffice windows are most crowded at lunch time, Postmaster Frank Brennan reported.
70 Years Ago
December 21, 1953
Bill Patton, 39, who is employed by the Lakeside Ranch Co., is in St. Joseph’s Hospital following an accident Sunday morning. He was coyote hunting and the horse he was riding stepped in a hole and threw him. Patton received a fractured left ankle.
65 Years Ago
December 19, 1958
Those broad smiles and happy expressions Alliance merchants are wearing these days aren’t just for the customer’s benefit. They’re spontaneous! If the amount of goods sold in stores can be taken as a yardstick it’s going to be a merry Christmas in the Alliance area. And among the merriest will be the many merchants along Box Butte Avenue. An informal poll Thursday revealed, without fail, that December 1958 is a record month so far as merchandise sold in Alliance is concerned.
60 Years Ago
December 20, 1963
Planning is underway for the construction of a nursing home at Good Samaritan Village, the Rev. Karl Berg, manager, announced today. It is hoped that construction can start next summer.
55 Years Ago
December 20, 1968
Interviews were completed Thursday afternoon at the suite of the Box Butte County Attorney in the Slagle Clinic Building of the nine persons seeking the office of commissioner of District No. 2. A selection has not been made. The nine seeking the office vacated today by Leslie Stull are Duane Worley, C. J. Marsh, William L. Powell, Ray McCann, Ralph Hennings, Relph W. Lockridge, Virgil McCart, T.P. Weed and Joel Andrews.
50 Years Ago
December 20, 1973
A total of seven “interested persons” showed up Wednesday evening to view the plans for the new Box Butte County General Hospital at the public showing called by the hospital trustees. Included within the seven were two members of the Box Butte County Commissioners John Laeger and J. L. Saylor. All others present, except for five citizens, were members of either the trustees or planning committee for the new hospital.
45 Years Ago
December 20, 1978
Finding a new site for the administering of driver’s license examinations and snow removal from the county roads received the attention of the Box Butte County Commissioners at their regular meeting on Tuesday afternoon. Lloyd Porter, district director of the license examiners, was present at the meeting to tell the Commissioners about some of the problems which had come up since the National Guard Armory was first used as a site for the examinations six months ago.
40 Years Ago
December 20, 1983
The Alliance area continues to shiver in sub-zero temperatures as the winter deep freeze refuses to release the Nebraska Panhandle from its grasp. The high temperature here Monday was a mere one degree below zero. The overnight low fell to six below as snow continued to fall prompting traveler’s advisories to be issued for the Panhandle and western Nebraska.
35 Years Ago
December 20, 1988
The Alliance School Board and Alliance Education Association settled on a two-year contract during a meeting with a federal negotiator Monday. This contract gives teachers a $1,000 raise in base pay for this year and a $500 raise for next year. With the help of Kent Frazer, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services Commissioner from Omaha, agreements were reached for a teacher base salary of $16,300 for 1988-89 and a $16,800 base for 1989-90. Base salary last year was $15,300.
30 Years Ago
December 21, 1993
Dave Hill, the new administrator at Box Butte General Hospital, began work Monday. Hill, who has a master of science degree in health services management, was previously employed at St. Elizabeth Community Health Center in Lincoln as director on plant services.
25 Years Ago
December 19, 1998
The Box Butte County Sheriff’s Office has received several grants for new speed-control equipment. According to a press release from Lincoln, the Box Butte County Sheriff’s Office is being awarded a traffic-safety grant to assist in obtaining one mobile radar unit. Sheriff’s Deputy James Bartels, who applied for the grant, said the new unit will be an EAGLE Gold radar detector.
20 Years Ago
December 19, 2003
Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) visited Box Butte General Hospital yesterday morning during his tour of seven mid-size hospitals that will benefit from the recently passed federal Medicare bill. Nelson voted to pass the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003; and lobbied to include the increased reimbursement for rural hospitals.
15 Years Ago
December 20, 2008
On Tuesday afternoon a very special donation was made at Alliance’s First National Bank. Five young children, Bailey and Corbin Stark, Sage Macke, Faith Stackenwalt and Madison Stark, all grandchildren of Bunny Saum, each donated $100 to the Salvation Army.
10 Years Ago
December 19, 2013
Box Butte General Hospital CEO Dan Griess publicly announced at the November Board of Trustees meeting that BBGH Controller Lori Mazanec had been promoted to chief operating officer for the hospital. The announcement wasn’t a surprise for anyone who knows Mazanec, who has excelled in the positions and responsibilities she’s had in her 13 years at BBGH.
5 Years Ago
December 19, 2018
During its meeting on Monday evening, the Alliance School Board discussed the latest informal proposal from the city of Alliance regarding the track/sewer line issue that has bubbled up since the 2018 election. Superintendent Dr. Troy Unzicker said the City had proposed a 60/40 split with the school district paying for nearly two-thirds of the cost as the biggest change from discussion earlier this year, asking that the district pay 100 percent. Though the topic fell under action items the board made no decision, ultimately voting to table it.